Which Sky Blue is the Blue For Yooooooou?

Hi Goddesses  

My hummana mummana Bettinas arrived recently, and one of the blues, whilst gorgeous, made me realise that I have accidentally acquired a few that are similar.  So, what better excuse to trot them all out, take a peek, and try and rationalise why all 5 are needed!

The 5 polishes are - 

* thumb - Butter London - Artful Dodger

* index - Bettina - Vintage

* middle - Barry M - Cyan Blue

* ring - a-England - Galahad

* pinkie - OPI - Ogre The Top Blue

At first glance, a few things are obvious to me - 

* how dusty Galahad looks compared to the others, yet when worn on its own it seems quite bright

* how Galahad and Artful Dodger look like father and son

* that Cyan Blue and Vintage are the next 2 most alike

Overview - 

* Artful Dodger - quite crellyish - not a creme, not a jelly.  This took 3 coats, and has a completely different feel and finish to the others.  It's a dusty blue, and the one it most resembles on Wikipedia is Cambridge Blue

* Vintage - fabulous, thick and creamy, this is a 1 coater, but I used 2 out of habit.  The sun shines out of this one.  Ridiculously happy, bright and perky.  

* Cyan Blue - sooooo intense.  This is also a 1 coater, tho again I used 2.   Extremely bright and brilliant, this one if probably the one I would keep if I were only allowed one.

* Galahad - gorgeous.  You can read my original post here.  As I said, it's dustier than the others, a little more antiquated.  It is very similar to Artful Dodger, just deeper.

* Ogre The Top Blue - bright, but slightly darker. This is a real Royal Blue, bright and vivid.

So, does a girl really neeeeeeeeed all 5 ?  Nooooo.  But does a Crumpet need all 5 - well, probably yes quite frankly.  They are all interesting in their different ways, and I will keep them but for different reasons.  The Barry is a brilliant all-rounder, but the BL is probably the one I am mostly likely to wear solo.

Stay tuned, cos I just layered this with Dollish Polish Putting On The Ritzzz! and it looks da bomb!

Thank you, and enjoy xx :)

Spring Challenge - Mr Blue Sky

Hi Goddesses

I was a little stuck for this one, having done a sky mani that I absolutely loved once before - here.   I didn't want to just duplicate that, and thought about doing a picture that spread over all 5 nails.

In the end boredom / weariness set in, and I just went for something easy, doing a blue skittle and then different types of clouds.

To be honest, I thought I had more pale blues than this.  What I found though was that the ones that I had were too similar (that'll be you, CG Sea Spray) or were the wrong tone to fit the skittle (looking at you, Models Own Beth's Blue).

So what did I end up with ?

* thumb = Barry M Blue Moon

* index - Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream - my preferred sky blue

* middle - a-England Galahad, which had too much green in it next to these others (it amuses me how a skittle can completely change your perception of a colour)

* ring = Barry M Cyan Blue

* pinkie = Essie Smooth Sailing

I tried for different types of clouds, but they didn't all work.   I live in Lincolnshire in the UK where we have a lot of RAF bases - you constantly see plane streaks across the sky, and this is what I tried to do on the ring finger.

The index is my favourite.  All of these were done with a dotting tool and then smeared with a sponge, to give them a lighter look.

Enjoy xx :)

Galloping Sir Galahad

A-England - Galahad

Hi Goddesses

I hope you are enjoying this very special week of VERY special polishes, and here is another from what I firmly believe could be THE brand of 2012 - A-England.

Those of you who follow me know I am not a big fan of blues (although I am getting there, yay), but wow, Galahad blew even me away.

Galahad is a luscious creme, nice and thick, perfectly opaque in 2 coats.  He is a lovely turquoise, yet not brash - he is not too bright, too electric or too much of a diva.   There's a murky serenity to this blue which lifts him above the obvious and into much rarer territory.

He's very grandiose, and again, speaks of ancient houses and lost pearls.  He's rich, darker than Tiffany, but would look AMAZING with silver - he also looks pretty damn hot with some of the Essie Luxeffects, and I will show you later in the week.

This is just a total love for me, which from someone who doesn't really "love" blue, is a big compliment.  For those of you who DO love blue, buy Galahad and you may just pee your pants :)

Enjoy xxx :)